The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Phormium of hybrid origin and referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Taya’. The new cultivar is grown for use as a foliage plant for landscape and container use.
The Inventor discovered the new cultivar in his nursery in Hamilton, New Zealand in summer of 2004. The new cultivar was selected in a trial bed that was planted with seedlings that were derived from open pollination between Phormium tenax ‘Purpurea’ (not patented), unnamed selections of Phormium cookianum and unnamed selections of Phormium tenax. The Inventor was evaluating the seedlings for distinct foliage coloration. The exact parentage is unknown.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by division in autumn of 2004 in Hamilton, New Zealand by the Inventor. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.